Mean girls are not all sugar and spice
Mary AllanReporter, The Voice
Mean girls' antics have become a popular pastime for many people; just consider the YouTube phenomenon of girl on girl fighting videos.
However, authorities are not laughing. Violence among teens has decreased ten percent in the last 10 years according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Federal statistics cite that from 1992 to 2003 assault by girls has risen by 41 percent nationwide.
What is happening to the young women of America? In a 2005 article, the authors of "Bad Girls," Deborah Prothrow-Stith and Howard Spivak, say, "We started hearing occasional stories about girls fighting some 15 years ago. Ten years ago the stories became more frequent; we started getting an earful about girls fighting."
Some (GCC) students were asked why they think girl on girl fighting is growing. "Kids don't have any conscience or fear of authority," says Glendale Community College (GCC) student, Shelly Fernandez.
Girls are starting to fight like boys. In Avelardo Valdez's book Beyond Risk he says, "Sometimes it can start with 'talking shit' "or 'madogging' (staring someone down), or showing lack of respect. A more prevalent reason is when talking shit is associated with the spread of rumors within a specific network of friends." Spreading hurtful rumors happens a lot on the Internet.
This is often referred to as cyber bullying, another form of aggression. According ABC News, some teen violence experts said the Internet could be fueling the type of girl violence that has captured headlines because it's becoming the teen place to see and be seen.
"The best [way] to hurt the victims is to hurt the victims as wide as possible. There is no better place than the Web to show it. It's maximizing the bullying and the pain in the victims," said Dr. Young Shin Kim of Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center.
The ones who bully feel pain also. According to James Garbarino, PhD, who wrote "See Jane Hit" a study of troubled teen girls who bully, 64 percent of the girls had attempted suicide versus 3 percent in boys.
"Kids today are attention starved and neglected by parent's school and society," says (GCC) student Arwen Leader. Girls' aggression is a growing and unique problem and needs to be addressed sooner than later. "Time is well past due. Research discoveries and secular trends over the past decade, and reported in this book Aggression, Antisocial Behavior and Violence among Girls lead overwhelmingly to the conclusion that public policy reform in youth violence must be directed toward the special circumstances of girls," say the authors.
In other words this girl on girl violence is unprecedented and needs to be handled differently. Criminal sanctions are being discussed not just on the perpetrators of the assaults, but the people who film and disburse such material.
Ashley Evans says she does not know why girls fight. "I am a lover, not a fighter."
Mary Allan
Mean girls are becoming more aggressive in today's society
